The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Big Read The Arts Institute Plymouth

Experience the Ancient Mariner Big Read as one symphonic piece.

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You can find the Ancient Mariner Big Read here:  https://www.ancientmarinerbigread.com/ 

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The Ancient Mariner Big Read was commissioned by The Arts Institute, University of Plymouth. Supported by The Box, Plymouth; The Edge Andrew Brownsword Gallery, University of Bath; John Hansard Gallery, University of Southampton; The Marine Institute, University of Plymouth; Arts Council England and dBs Pro.

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Copyright: The Arts Institute, University of Plymouth. The Ancient Mariner Big Read is not for profit and cannot be sold, either as a whole or in part, without permission from The Arts Institute, University of Plymouth, UK.

Discover more: https://www.ancientmarinerbigread.com/reading/40

Reader
Alan Bennett
Author + playwright
Recorded in North London

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Farewell, farewell! but this I tell
To thee, thou Wedding-Guest!
He prayeth well, who loveth well
Both man and bird and beast.

He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all.

The Mariner, whose eye is bright,
Whose beard with age is hoar,
Is gone: and now the Wedding-Guest
Turned from the bridegroom's door.

He went like one that hath been stunned,
And is of sense forlorn:
A sadder and a wiser man,
He rose the morrow morn.

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You can find the Ancient Mariner Big Read here:  https://www.ancientmarinerbigread.com/ 

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Copyright: The Arts Institute, University of Plymouth. The Ancient Mariner Big Read is not for profit and cannot be sold, either as a whole or in part, without permission from The Arts Institute, University of Plymouth, UK.

Discover more: https://www.ancientmarinerbigread.com/reading/39

Reader
Judy Collins
Singer + songwriter
Recorded in New York City

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O Wedding-Guest! this soul hath been
Alone on a wide wide sea:
So lonely 'twas, that God himself
Scarce seemèd there to be.

O sweeter than the marriage-feast,
'Tis sweeter far to me,
To walk together to the kirk
With a goodly company!—

To walk together to the kirk,
And all together pray,
While each to his great Father bends,
Old men, and babes, and loving friends
And youths and maidens gay!

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You can find the Ancient Mariner Big Read here:  https://www.ancientmarinerbigread.com/ 

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Copyright: The Arts Institute, University of Plymouth. The Ancient Mariner Big Read is not for profit and cannot be sold, either as a whole or in part, without permission from The Arts Institute, University of Plymouth, UK.

Discover more: https://www.ancientmarinerbigread.com/reading/38

Reader
Samuel John Taylor Coleridge
Sixth-generation nephew of
the poet, recorded at St Mary's Church,
Ottery St Mary, Coleridge's birthplace.
Bell-ringer: Gordon Bird

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Since then, at an uncertain hour,
That agony returns:
And till my ghastly tale is told,
This heart within me burns.

I pass, like night, from land to land;
I have strange power of speech;
That moment that his face I see,
I know the man that must hear me:
To him my tale I teach.

What loud uproar bursts from that door!
The wedding-guests are there:
But in the garden-bower the bride
And bride-maids singing are:
And hark the little vesper bell,
Which biddeth me to prayer!

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You can find the Ancient Mariner Big Read here:  https://www.ancientmarinerbigread.com/ 

---

Copyright: The Arts Institute, University of Plymouth. The Ancient Mariner Big Read is not for profit and cannot be sold, either as a whole or in part, without permission from The Arts Institute, University of Plymouth, UK.

Discover more: https://www.ancientmarinerbigread.com/reading/37

Reader
Kathleen Jamie
Poet + author
Recorded at the University of Stirling

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And now, all in my own countree,
I stood on the firm land!
The Hermit stepped forth from the boat,
And scarcely he could stand.

'O shrieve me, shrieve me, holy man!'
The Hermit crossed his brow.
'Say quick,' quoth he, 'I bid thee say—
What manner of man art thou?'

Forthwith this frame of mine was wrenched
With a woful agony,
Which forced me to begin my tale;
And then it left me free.

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You can find the Ancient Mariner Big Read here:  https://www.ancientmarinerbigread.com/ 

---

Copyright: The Arts Institute, University of Plymouth. The Ancient Mariner Big Read is not for profit and cannot be sold, either as a whole or in part, without permission from The Arts Institute, University of Plymouth, UK.

Discover more: https://www.ancientmarinerbigread.com/reading/36

Reader
Timothy Morton
Philosopher
Recorded at Rice University, Texas

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Upon the whirl, where sank the ship,
The boat spun round and round;
And all was still, save that the hill
Was telling of the sound.

I moved my lips—the Pilot shrieked
And fell down in a fit;
The holy Hermit raised his eyes,
And prayed where he did sit.

I took the oars: the Pilot's boy,
Who now doth crazy go,
Laughed loud and long, and all the while
His eyes went to and fro.
'Ha! ha!' quoth he, 'full plain I see,
The Devil knows how to row.'

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You can find the Ancient Mariner Big Read here:  https://www.ancientmarinerbigread.com/ 

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Copyright: The Arts Institute, University of Plymouth. The Ancient Mariner Big Read is not for profit and cannot be sold, either as a whole or in part, without permission from The Arts Institute, University of Plymouth, UK.